Safety-razor and hair-cutting appliance



A. I. MAINWARI'NG.

SAFETY RAZOR AND HAIR CUTTING APPLIANCE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV; 2 1919.

Patented Dec. 27, 1921.

Fig.5? F494 FQqZ drug,

ALEXANDER JOHN MAINWARING, OF ST. JAMES, LONDON, ENGLAND.

SAFETY-RAZOR AND HAIR-CUTTING APPLIANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented D90, 27, 1921,

Application filed November 29, 1919. Serial No. 341,406.

tached to combs or guards, and the present invention relates to a method of attaching a blade or blades to a comb of a particular form in such-a way that anyone-can employ it on himself or on another person, both as a safety hair cutter, and as a safety hair trimmer, and as a safety razor, so that the appliance is in fact a combined safety hair cutter and safety razor. I

According to. the present invention the device is organized for cutting different lengths of hair as in shaving and hair cutting either by relative adjustment between the blade, or blades, and the teeth of the comb, or by organization of the said teeth, or by both relative adjustment of the parts and organization of the teeth.

This invention can be carried into prac tical effect in several different ways. One form consists of a comb whose upper part or back has a slot or a series of holes constructed lengthwise, in which two blades are fastened-together by bolts and nuts, or by a spring device, or in any other convenient way, and are free to be moved to different parts of the comb, one blade on one side and one blade on the other, or alternatively one blade only can be used. The comb may be of a particular shape being not of the same breadth in its entirety, but from one end or from a certain distance from one end it begins to broaden out gradually by reason of the length of the teeth being grad- ,uated and continues to do so for the remaining part of its length. The blades are fixable at any part of the comb by screwing up one of the nuts on its bolts or by tightening the spring device or the like and when fixed at the narrow end of the comb the edges of the blades are designed to be near the points of the teeth so as to cut short lengths of hair as in shaving, while by moving the blades and fixing them toward the broader end of thecomb the edges of the blades become more remote from the teeth points and are then capable of cutting of! hair in longer lengths and in greaterwquan- 'tity as in hair cutting. Thus by placing the blade or blades appropriately the length of hairdesired to be out can be regulated.

The blades can either be rigid and substantial or of the thin flexible kind such as are used in the Gillette type of safety razor, and when the latter are used a shield is required.

A comb whose teeth areall equal in length may equally well be used provided that the direction of, the slot (or series of holes or grooves or the like) in the back and if necessary the back itself, be appropriately in-. clined to the direction of the teeth though it is also obviousthat the teeth of thehair cutting appliance may be all of the same length without interfering to any great extent with the eificiency of the device.

For fastening the blade or blades of the thin andfiexible kind to the comb an appropriate method is by means of a shield in the form of a hinge which straddles the back of the comb, theflaps of such hinged shield being held to the comb by bolts and nuts or by a clip or by a spring device as already referred to. k

A convenient form of the appliance is one in which the teeth on the shaving part of it are especially constructed, and organized for shaving, while the teeth on the hair cutting part are specially constructed. and organized for hair cutting, these two sets of teeth' difiering from each other in outline or cross section or in number or'in two or more of such features.

The teeth for the shaving part of the appliance may be constructed on one side, i. e.,

on one edge of the comb, and the teeth for the hair cutting part onthe other side, or edge, of-.the comb, which form of the appliance admits of a' much smaller and more compact comb being used, and it may be convenient to apply to it a suitable handle either rigid or movable and if a movable 3 The invention has the qualities of economy simplicity compactness and speed in use. It'enables hair to be cut by simply 'drawing'the device through it at an angle in which Figure 1 is a front elevation of one form of device having-differently organized setsof teeth and blade securing means;

Fig. 2 .is an extended inside'view of the said blade securing means or shield;

Fig. 3 is an end view of said shield.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are enlarged detail sectional views illustrating suitable forms of teeth for the shaving part of the comb.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged view, of one of the teeth of the hair cutting part of the comb.

Fig. 8 is an underside elevation of a further modified form of appliance; and

1 Fig. 9 is a detail sectional view of the fixing pin. 4

As shown and in carrying this invention into practical effect a comb a is made of same strong material such as metal,-wood, vulcanite, tortoiseshell, or the like. The upper part, that is to say, the back of the comb is constructed to have a slot Z2 along nearly its entire length. Two blades 0 bolted together with bolts e and nuts f are free to move from one end of the slot to the other, one blade on each side of the comb. The comb a is of a particular shape the teeth 9 being not of the same length throughout, but at some distance from one end of the comb the teeth are made to gradually len hen out toward the other end.

.The bla es care capable of being fixed at 'any distance along the slot 12 by tightening one or more of the nuts f on the boltse, and

. when fixed at thenarrow end of the comb the edges of the blades are designed to be' near the points g of the teeth of the comb so' as to cut off short lengths of hair as in.

shaving, while by fixing the blades toward the broader end of the comb their edges become more remote from the teeth points,

and are'then capable of cutting off hair in greater quantity as in ordinary hair cutting from the head. 4

One form of this my present invention has the slot lined with some elastic material, and the bolts are covered with the same material 'and the holes in the blades lined with the same for the purpose of giving resiliency in the working of the appliance;

or any one or more of these members may be so treated for effecting this purpose,

According to the constructions shown in Figs. 1 to 9 the comb has some of the teeth specially modified, constructed and organized for the purpose of shaving and other teeth modified, constructed and organized for the purpose of hair cutting to wit For the purpose of shaving, the teeth on one part of the comb, viz. the narrower part, are wide apart, parallel, rectangular in outline in front view and have their ends bent at an angleor curved or ogival or rounded in side view, so that while the lower end of theteeth form the safety part of the device, their shape admits of the cut hair and lather escaping between the teeth and the blade; on the other hand the teeth on the other part of the comb are made close together, inclined from each other, tapering, blunt pointed, and substantially straight, such arrangement permitting of the cut hair being extruded outwardly.

I may use one blade instead of two; and I may use the double form of comb, that is to. say, a comb having teeth on both sides; also a handle may be attachable to or integral with the comb or with the blade; also the adjustin slot may be made in the comb or in the shield or in the blade or in all or any of them;

Referring specifically to Fig. 1 of the drawings 72. is the shield inclosing the blade or blades 0 which are moved, e e are steadying bolts integral with one fiat of the shield k, e is the central bolt which is screwed and with which the nut f engages so as to secure the blades at any point deslred along the length of the comb, g are teeth constructed for the'shaving part of the comb,

g the teeth on the hair cutting part.

' Fig. 2 shows an inside view of the shield h which being hingedv at q straddles the back' of the comb,' The steadying bolts e e enga c with the recesses a" 1' on the oppocomb made of thin material; thin combs being rendered more effective for shaving if provided-with pads or washers as p 12.

Fig. 7 shows a cross section (enlarged)' of one form of the lower part of one of the teeth 9 constructed for the hair cuttlng part of the comb.

Fig. '8 'shows the outline of a compact form of comb a having the teeth 9 constructed for shaving on one side, and the teeth 9' constructed for haircutting on the other side: being small, this form of comb requires a handle for adequate use WhlCh may be integral with it or attachable to it,

or to some member of the device in some appropriate manner. When this form of comb is used it is convenient to employ a blade or blades with twoedges and when one such blade alone is used, the appliance must be capable of being used in either hand, so that my invention further comprises the attachment of amovable handle suitable for the change over from the right hand' to the left hand and vice versa. If the handle be provided with a pivotal attachment the advantage is gained that it can be held at right angles to the blade, or at any angle'in the direction of the slot; it can also be held rigidly substantially parallel with the plane of the body by means of spring catches at either end of the comb as shown at Z and m. In

this construction a is the comb, b the slot,

. of which by engaging with the nut f secures the blade at any point along the slot, is is the handle which is attached to the loose hollow round pivotal pin 2' which is externally rimmed at its base and internally tapped to receive the screw 1" as shown in Fig. 12 by springing the two bent ends of its yielding wire fork into two' recesses made in the rim of p at o o. This arrangement affords a universal joint so that the handle is is free to be held at any inclination whatever to the plane of the underside of the body of the device, .as wellas being held rigidly and parallel to its plane within the spring clips at Z or at m.

Fig. 9 shows a section of the pin 12' with its screwed nut 1* and two recesses o o in the rim made to receive the bent ends of the fork of the handle 70. The pin 1) works loosely in the central aperture of the blade, and shield and in the slot.

What I claim is 1. A combined hair cutting and shaving device comprising a comb having two diffe lpnt sets .of teeth in alinement, and cutting means on said comb, one set of teeth being organized for shaving purposes and the other set being organized for hair cutting so that the dpvice can be-used at will Iflorshaving or for hair cutting from the 2. A combined hair cutting and shaving device comprising a comb having two distinct sets of teeth and cutting. means on said comb, one set of teethbeing for shaving and one set for hair cutting, the two sets of teeth difiering from one another in outline and in cross section, said cutting means being adjustable longitudinally of the comb across the sets of teeth. a

3. A combined hair cutting and shaving device comprising a comb having two dis tinct sets of teeth and cuttingmeans lon gitudinally adjustable on said comb and at device comprising a comb, cutting means on said comb, a shield straddling the back of Y the comb and supporting the cutting means and means for securing the shield and cutting means in varying positions simultaneously with respect tothe top and bottom and side edges of the comb so that it can. be used at will to cut off short lengths of hair as in shaving or hair in greater quantity as in haircutting from the head. a

5. A combined hair cutting and shaving device comprising a comb, cutting means on said comb, a slot in the back of said comb, clamping means engaging said cutting means, and securing means passing through said cutting and clamping means and through the slot in said comb whereby the parts may be fixed in changing relationship with the edges of the comb and so that the device can be used at will to cut ofi' short lengths of hair as in shaving or hair in greater quantity 'as in hair cutting from the head. 1

'6. A combined hair cutting and shaving device comprising a comb, two distinct sets of teeth on one edge of said comb, cutting means adjustable longitudinally on said comb and cooperating with the said sets of teeth so that the device can be used at will to cut off short lengths of hair as in shaving or hair'in greater quantity as in hair .cutting from the head.

posed so that the device can be used at will I to cut ofi' short lengths of hair as in shaving or hair of greater cutting from the head.

8. A combined hair cuttingland shaving 'device comprising a combhaving two sets of teeth along one side edge,- one'set being parallel and the other graduated, a shield and a pair of blades adjustable along said comb whereby difi'erent lengths of teeth are exposed so that the device can beused at "ALEXANDER JOHN imuwmme.

quantity as in hair.

whereof I have hereunto- 

